At the end of 2008 the legendary pianist Alfred Brendel took his leave of the concert platform. Now at the age of eighty he still appears to be brimming with energy: he writes profound essays on music, enjoys writing absurd poetry and regularly gives lecture recitals. In one of his most popular lectures he examines the question: 'Does classical music have to be entirely serious?' Brendel, from whom roars of laughter are always to be expected, truly believes that the answer is no: he prefers to hear his audiences laugh rather than cough! Naturally his elucidation is not limited to dry theory: Brendel illustrates his argument on the grand piano with numerous excerpts ranging from Haydn to Beethoven and on to Ligeti. This is a wonderful opportunity to see and hear one of our greatest pianists at work.